Three-quarters of job applicants don’t hear back from employers: Survey

Poor applicant experience can negatively impact recruitment

Feb 21, 2013

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Three-quarters (75 per cent) of job applicants in the United States said they never heard back from the employer, according to a CareerBuilder survey of 3,900 American workers.

Eighty-two per cent of workers expect to hear back from a company when they apply for a job regardless of whether the employer is interested. Nearly one-third (32 per cent) of workers said they would be less inclined to purchase products or services from a company that didn't respond to their application, found the survey.Twenty-six per cent of workers said they have had a bad experience as a job applicant. Reasons for this include:

• the employer never bothered letting me know the decision after the interview (60 per cent)

• found out during the interview that the job didn't match what was written in the job ad (43 per cent)

• company representative didn't present a positive work experience (34 per cent)

• company representative didn't seem to be knowledgeable (30 per cent)

• employer never acknowledged receiving my application (29 per cent).The effects of one candidate's negative experience can lead to a broader impact on the employer's ability to recruit or sell products. Workers said if they are dissatisfied with the way their application is handled by an employer, they would:

• never seek employment at the company again (42 per cent)

• tell others not to work there (22 per cent)

• tell others not to purchase products or services from the company (nine per cent).

The study found that a good applicant experience can have positive long-term effects for organizations regardless if the candidate was actually hired. Workers said if they are happy with the way they are treated by an employer when applying for a job, they would:

• consider seeking employment with the company again in the future (56 per cent)

• tell others to seek employment there (37 per cent)

• be more likely to purchase products or services from the company (23 per cent).

"From the second jobseekers are viewing your job ad and applying to your company, they are forming an opinion of who you are as an employer and as a business," said Sanja Licina, senior director of talent intelligence at CareerBuilder. "One bad applicant experience can have a ripple effect with candidates not only vocalizing their dissatisfaction with how they were treated, but encouraging others not to apply or even buy products from that company. It's so critical that your employment brand effectively carries through at every touch point with candidates."